A digital video recorder (DVR) can store a digital representation of a video program for subsequent playback. Traditionally, DVRs have been purchased or leased by customers for personal use at the customer premises. For example, a cable or satellite television subscriber might have a DVR at the home to accommodate recording of broadcast programs delivered by the cable or satellite television system. A DVR may be provided as a standalone unit or it may be integrated into another component, such as a set top box for a cable or satellite television system.
An RS-DVR system can be utilized as an alternative to traditional DVRs that must be deployed and located at the customer site. An RS-DVR system can remotely provide content recording and playback capabilities to any number of subscribers and end users (similar to a video-on-demand system). In practice, therefore, an RS-DVR system can communicate with a plurality of different subscriber systems via a data communication network.
An RS-DVR system should be able to deliver digital media content in a reliable manner over managed or unmanaged networks under various degrees of congestion. To facilitate this, it would be desirable to have an RS-DVR system that is capable of supporting multiple bitrate digital media content. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.